


Better Than a Dream

by allmylovesatonce



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-10-11
Packaged: 2018-04-23 19:15:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4888810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allmylovesatonce/pseuds/allmylovesatonce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mindy has some dreams about Danny that seem a bit too real to be a dream. Also, maybe Betsy's a secret sorceress. </p>
<p>Set after DCIMG.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. How is this happening?

The sweet taste of victory had worn off a few hours ago. Mindy had spent the rest of her day going about her daily business. She felt even more empowered at work, ordering Morgan and Betsy around like she was their queen. Somehow defeating Danny Castellano was just what she needed to battle that midafternoon drag.

But night was setting in and as she sat on her couch, watching yet another episode of some murder show, suddenly the things Danny had said started coming back to her. She’d made sure she got her shots in too, but she doubt they’d stuck as well as his were sticking. Sure, Gwen and Morgan had helped talk her off the floor, but now that she was alone again, she wondered if Danny had a point.

Would she die alone and childless? Would all her money end up going to Tina Fey? It wasn’t the first time that she’d worried about it, but it was the first time someone was rude enough to point it out to her. Why was Danny such a dick?

~~

After she’d defeated Danny and he ran home, she’d briefly come down from her high when she was sitting in the break room. Betsy walked in and spotted her looking a bit gloomy. She sat down at the table with her and simply looked at her for a minute. When Mindy didn’t say anything, Betsy reached out and grabbed her hand. Mindy looked up at her questioningly. Betsy just smiled comfortingly at her.

“Do you ever worry about all the plans you had for your future, Betsy?” Mindy finally broke down and asked.

Betsy looked at Mindy thoughtfully. “I guess so. Sometimes. But I like to think that it will still all work out. And it will for you too, Dr. L.  It will.”

Mindy shook her head in awe. “How do you do that? How do you have such blind faith that things are gonna work out?”

“Your future may not be what you expect, but if you want things badly enough, you can get them right? You work extra hard for them. Or at least that’s how I feel…”

Mindy stared at her.  Mindy wanted to believe that everything would work out and that she’d get married and have the children she’d always wanted. Until her appointment with Danny, she’d been like Betsy and just blindly assumed it would happen one day.

“It would be really nice to know for sure that my life would actually work out for the better, you know?” Mindy replied.

Betsy looked at her with a weird smile. “Who knows? Maybe somehow you’ll find out.”

“How?”

“I don’t know…” Betsy said vaguely as she stood up and started to leave the break room.

“Wait, Betsy, what do you know?” Mindy asked, turning in her chair to evaluate her coworker.

Betsy shrugged and smiled at Mindy, turning to leave the room.

Mindy stared after her for a bit before she remembered that she had paperwork to do. Once she got up and left the room, she didn’t think about Betsy’s cryptic replies again.

~~

Mindy laid in bed staring at the ceiling, thinking of all the other things she’d planned for her future that maybe were in question. Trying to reassure herself before she fell asleep, Mindy kept replaying Gwen’s words in her mind repeatedly. “This Danny guy, he doesn’t know what’s gonna happen. No one does.” She was right, Danny couldn’t predict how his own life was going to work out, yet alone Mindy’s. She would show him how wrong he was by marrying someone handsome and rich and having the most adorable babies with him. She’d show Danny.

As Mindy fell asleep, she kept thinking of her future. The man she’d fall in love with and everything that came with it. Once she slept, she had the most vivid dreams. Instead of them seeming like dreams, it felt real.

She was on a plane. She saw herself back in the galley, choosing between different types of fizzy waters. All the sudden Danny appeared. _Danny? What was he doing there?_

“Hey.”

“Hey, Danny, all these waters look the same. I-I just don’t – ”

She didn’t finish speaking before Danny was kissing her.

_Holy shit why was Danny kissing her?! And why did it look like she was enjoying it?!_ This was just all too weird. She was like the audience for the weirdest movie ever. Before she could really process the image of her and Danny going at it in the back of a plane, they were rushing to the bathroom to seemingly join the mile high club. _What the hell was happening?!_

The scene shifted before her. Suddenly she was at the top of the Empire State Building. She looked around and spotted herself laying on the ground panting heavily. She looked up to see Danny slowly walking toward her. _Is this the part where he makes fun of her for laying on the ground shoeless, panting for some reason?_ She watched as Danny laid down on the ground next to her and professed his love for her. _Seriously, what the hell was with these dreams?_ She watched as they bickered over how many children they would have. _Oh, so now Danny thinks she’ll have kids…interesting._ Mindy was starting to rattle off the names of the muses when Danny started kissing her again. She was reciprocating whole heartedly. Mindy watched as several people started staring at the adult couple making out on the floor of the Empire State Building. As she watched Danny run his hands all over her body, she started to feel a pull in a different direction.

Mindy woke up, sweating and tangled in her sheets. She could still very clearly remember the dreams she’d had about her and Danny. It was bizarre. Sure, she’d had dreams about Danny before. He was an attractive man and she had been in a bit of a lull. But any previous dreams she’d had about him were purely physical. She’d never dreamed about Danny professing his love for her or for them to talk about children together. And while those kisses were surely passionate, it seemed like there was actually something behind them, instead of just lust.

Mindy was restless as she tried to fall back asleep. Once she did, she couldn’t stay asleep for long. She kept seeing the same disturbing images. The worst part was, she couldn’t deny that they looked good together. The dreams were haunting her.

~~

Mindy had done her best to get dressed and get to work without too much disruption. She put the strange dreams to the back of her mind. She was successfully going about her day until she strolled in the doors of the office and laid her eyes on Danny. Suddenly she felt a not unpleasant stirring in her stomach. It was like she remembered the feeling of him kissing her, of him grabbing her ass and stroking her cheek. She remembered it all somehow even though she had been observing in her dream.

She decided to sneak by and head to her office without talking to Danny. He looked up as she was passing by phlebotomy. “Morning, Mindy.”

She jumped. “Yes, good morning, Dr. Castellano,” she answered skittishly. She tried to keep walking toward her office.

“You have some mail.”

Mindy stopped in her steps. Had he always known she checked her mail in the morning? Why did he know what her routine was? Was he already in love with her?

Mindy smiled tightly back at Danny and walked back to check her mail. She could feel Danny’s eyes on her as she attempted to read the letter. Finally she couldn’t take it anymore. Popping her head up, she screeched, “What do you want?”

Danny recoiled. “Nothing. You just seem weird today.”

“You always think I’m weird. What’s the difference?”

“I don’t always think you’re weird. I just think you’re loud. And nosy.”

“Well then maybe stop being so nosy yourself,” Mindy snapped.

Morgan walked out and put his arm around Mindy. “Well, well, someone’s in a bad mood today.”

“I’m not in a bad mood!” Mindy yelled as she wriggled out from under Morgan’s arm. Mindy stomped over to her office.

“Dr. L, is this because Dr. C saw you in a compromising position yesterday?” Morgan prodded.

Danny and Mindy locked eyes quickly, both looking uncomfortable as the memories from her uncompleted exam came to mind. Looking away from Danny, Mindy glared at Morgan. “It’s not about that. Stop being so nosy!”

“Why would you even bring that up?” Danny asked Morgan almost aggressively.  

“I thought it was the elephant in the room…”

“There’s not an elephant in the room!” Mindy shrieked before she finally walked in her office and slammed the door.

A little while later, Betsy hesitantly knocked on Mindy’s door. She came in bearing coffee. She set it down on her desk and then sat down in one of the chairs in front of it.

“Dr. L, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Betsy,” Mindy said dismissively.

“You don’t really seem like it,” Betsy explained.

“I just had a really weird night last night.”

Betsy leaned forward. “Weird how?”

Mindy looked up and debated the pros and cons of divulging her weird dreams to someone else. It was Betsy. What harm could it do? “Okay, so I had some really weird dreams last night.”

“Ooh, what were they about? Oh, were they…sexual?” Betsy probed, whispering the last word.

“No. They were just intense. It wasn’t like I was in the dreams. It was like I was watching them like a movie or something.”

“What happened in these movie dreams?”

Mindy paused. Should she really tell someone she dreamed about Danny? Inhaling deeply, Mindy made up her mind. “I saw myself with Danny. And we were…I don’t know, a couple maybe. There were two scenarios. One where he just grabbed me and kissed me, and another when he professed his love for me at the freaking Empire State Building.”

Betsy sat there nodding, deep in thought. Mindy continued. “The weirdest part was how it happened. Rather than being an active part of it, I just watched it all unfold. It didn’t feel like a dream.” Betsy smiled widely at Mindy. She leaned forward and Mindy imitated her motions.

“Maybe it’s because they weren’t dreams.”


	2. Christmas Time Blues

Mindy never really bought Betsy’s explanation. Weeks had passed and she’d basically forgotten all about the weird dreams she’d had. There would be the odd time when she’d look at Danny and something from the dreams would spring to mind, but as time went on it happened less and less.

She hadn’t had any more dreams. That is, until the fateful night of her Christmas party she was hosting with Josh. Everything had gone to shit, there was no denying it. For whatever reason, Danny stayed. He sat with her and attempted to comfort her in the wake of her humiliation. She was surprised by how kind he was being to her. Earlier he’d tried to flee the party but now he wouldn’t leave. It was shocking.

What was more shocking was the fact that everyone else stayed as well. As Mindy and Danny walked out of her bedroom, everyone was there straightening up, serving drinks, and making it feel like a party again. With everyone dancing, drinking, and having a good time, it felt like the party Mindy had wanted to have in the first place.

On their way out the door, everyone said goodbye to Mindy. Betsy hugged her and whispered in her ear, “It will get better. You’ll see.” Mindy thought it was odd to say, but it wasn’t nearly as weird as the things Morgan tended to say to her. The last person to leave was Danny. He’d been trying to help clean up her apartment. When it finally seemed in good enough shape, he shrugged on his coat and turned for the door.

“Hey, thanks, Danny. For all your help. And for agreeing to murder me in five years.”

Danny laughed and nodded in reply. Mindy opened the door for him and he turned around in the doorway. “You sure you’re gonna be okay?”

Mindy shrugged. “I’ll be fine. I always am.”

Danny stared at her skeptically.

“Okay, so I’m sure I’ll spend the rest of my weekend drowning myself in alcohol, but eventually, I will be fine.”

Danny smirked and nodded. He reached out and patted Mindy’s arm. “Night, Mindy.”

She patted his arm back. “Night, Danny.”

Once she finally got to bed, sleep came easily to Mindy. The combination of tears, alcohol, and dancing seemed to have worn her out pretty well. And once she fell asleep, she started dreaming.

~~

She was in her office. She was standing in the corner. She looked over and saw herself on the floor by her chair. She looked like a mess. It was slightly reminiscent of the way she’d felt at the party that night.

“Stupid wine bra’s out of wine. I knew I shoulda brought the Long Island Iced Panties,” she heard herself say. Then there was a knock at the door and Danny came in looking for her.

It was basically exactly the way he’d done so tonight. He knew she needed comforting so he was there for her.

“I think I have something that might cheer you up. From your Secret Santa…”

Before Mindy could process what was happening, Danny was playing “Try Again” and dancing for her. And he was _good_. She felt about as shocked as her other self looked. He was moving so gracefully, and if she had to admit, pretty sexily as well. _Who is this Danny? What is going on?_ Suddenly he walked forward and stroked his hand under her chin. She was in awe of everything happening in her office. Nothing this noteworthy had ever occurred there.

She watched herself reassure Danny that she loved his gift. He looked so vulnerable. As she hugged him, he looked tense, like it was all too much or something. They broke apart and stared at each other. _Is he about to kiss me? It looks like he’s about to kiss me!_ Before anything could really happen, some man she didn’t recognize ran in yelling about Mindy’s boob wine and Jeremy ran in with another wrecked gingerbread house. She had no idea what it all meant, but she knew for a fact she’d just shared an important moment with Danny.

In a flash the scene changed before her. She was sitting at her apartment watching some video that featured all her coworkers. The apartment was decorated for Christmas. She looked around but she only saw herself. She heard keys in the door and looked over to see Danny walk in. She noticed herself quickly shutting off the TV upon his entrance.

“Don’t stop it. I loved it,” he said.

“Yeah? You loved it so much that you left the party early?”

She watched as Danny sat down next to Mindy and pulled out an envelope for her. She looked at him skeptically before opening and reading it.

It was essentially a letter praising her as a doctor. She watched the other Mindy get choked up as she read it. She felt a bit choked up herself listening to it. She’d never heard Danny say such great things about anyone, let alone Mindy. “Her only flaw I can think of is that sometimes she doesn’t realize what a great doctor she really is.”

She watched the two of them look lovingly at each other before Danny said, “Merry Christmas, Babe.” With that Mindy leaned in and kissed him sweetly. It was such an intimate moment that she almost felt like she was spying. Even though it was just a dream. A weirdly specific dream, though. Suddenly the scene faded and she woke up in bed.

The dreams were still present in her mind. She remembered the touching moments she’d had with Danny in them. Suddenly she remembered the dreams she’d had before. Why did she keep having dreams about moments between her and Danny? It was like when she felt especially down about something, Danny popped into her dreams. There had to be a reason behind it.

She tried to remember what Betsy had said a couple of months before when she’d told the receptionist about the first set of dreams. Oh right, she’d said they weren’t dreams. Betsy was pretty crazy sometimes. What could these be other than dreams? What, was she seeing into her future where she was in a full-fledged relationship with Danny? Mindy laughed out loud at the thought of it.

She thought back on tonight. Danny hadn’t even wanted to come but he did once she forced him. He had wanted to leave but he stayed once she heard the voicemail from Josh. He’d come back inside and gave Mindy’s Christmas speech when she wasn’t making it through it herself. He’d never been the most comforting to Mindy, but he’d followed her in to sit with her because he didn’t want her to be alone. He danced with her and smiled at her and was truly friendly to her. She could feel her relationship with Danny changing. Was it possible that it could change enough to become romantic? Mindy still doubted it.

~~

It had been over a week, but Mindy couldn’t forget the dreams. Paired in her memory with the ones from before, she couldn’t get them out of her mind. She walked into the break room and saw Danny sitting there reading the paper.

“Hey, Danny!”

“Hey.”

She sat down at the table with him. “Okay, I’m trying to remember something. When we went out for Office Club Night, and you were lighting it up on the dance floor,” That piqued his interests enough to make him look up from his paper, “What was it that you said made you so good?”

“Why do you care about me dancing?” Danny asked skeptically. “I’m not joining some inter-office ballroom dance contest or some crap like that. I’m too busy.”

“So the only reason that you wouldn’t do that is your schedule? That’s interesting to me, Danny.”

“No, don’t be interested by that. You’re reading too much into what I said.”

“Anyway, you took dance lessons, yeah?” He nodded, afraid to say anything, should she take it and run with it. “You should dance more often, man. Share your talents with the world.”

“Did you do drugs this morning?” Danny asked, looking closely to check her pupils. Mindy pulled back quickly, not used to his proximity. _Or maybe just not used to it yet…_

“No I didn’t do drugs. Sorry that I think your dancing is cool.”

“Mhmm. Okay,” Danny replied, still skeptical. They sat there in silence as Danny read the paper and Mindy drank her coffee. She started to read over Danny’s shoulder. He scooted the paper closer so she wasn’t craning as much to see it.

Mindy was reading an ad for a new deli close by and pointed it out to Danny. “That sounds good. Hey, you wanna go there for lunch?” Danny looked up from the paper to see if she was being serious. He could tell she was. He nodded his head thoughtfully.

“Yeah, that sounds great,” Danny replied before turning back to the paper. Mindy smiled at him. She had the sense that someone was watching them. She looked up to the door just in time to see Betsy watching them with a knowing smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of an interesting/maybe weird story that I ran with. Thank you for reading it! It should have a couple/few more chapters. Sadly there may be more time between chapters than I usually have due to my workload.   
> As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts!!


	3. Just Give Me a Reason

When she’d left Casey, more dreams had come. She’d seen flashes of smiles and embraces that were every bit as confusing as the dreams had been before. Each time, Mindy looked at Danny a little strangely for a couple of days before life got too hectic and she forgot. Each time, Betsy would be caught looking at her with a knowing look on her face like somehow she was planning it all. Mindy couldn’t afford the time to freak out about it appropriately, so she pushed it to the back of her mind.

She’d dated around, never anything too serious. There was the way too critical Jason. She was hardly upset when they’d ended. There was the skate boarder. There was really never any future there. Her times of devastation were getting fewer and farther between and so were the instances of her dreams.

When Cliff randomly dumped her, no one really knew except for Danny. She had a pretty dreamless sleep that night anyway. It might have been all the gas station wine. Finally she was on her way home to Cliff, ready to pour her heart out to him in person as she’d just done in the letter that Danny’d basically written for her.

When the plane shook and Danny showed up and started kissing her, she had the strangest sense of déjà vu. She shook it off and kissed him back with equal fervor, eventually ending up in the bathroom with him. As she’d always suspected, the mile high club was just a hoax. It was basically impossible to get it on in there. And they’d certainly tried.

She didn’t have another dream until after Danny had left her. No one except Peter knew that she’d even been seeing Danny. But the dreams came anyway. It was one scene and it hurt more than any of the other dreams had. They’d never hurt, just made her yearn for a future that seemed improbable. Now it seemed flat out impossible. But she could never have prepared herself for a dream so real. It was painful but only because it was everything she wanted…and also who she wanted.

As she fell asleep, a room in the hospital flashed before her eyes. She could see herself sitting up in the hospital bed. Danny was sitting in front of her. From the angle where she was standing, she could barely see the other Mindy. She moved to see around Danny. They were being so quiet. Almost reverently quiet.

She nearly gasped as she moved further along the wall. In between Mindy and Danny, wrapped up in Mindy’s arms was a baby. They were both staring at it in awe, the way two new parents would. She’d seen their looks before. Every time she delivered a baby and handed it over to the parents, they looked at their babies the same way. There was reverence and joy in the expression. It was the same expression that graced Mindy and Danny’s faces at that moment.

It seemed as real as the other dreams had, but Mindy wasn’t transfixed by this one. Instead, it scared her. She was scared of how much she wanted the vision in front of her. She wanted to look up into Danny’s eyes with as much love and understanding as her other self was at the moment. But realistically, that wouldn’t happen again. He’d left. There’d be no way that they’d go on to have a baby.

She startled herself awake. Very quickly, she felt the tears return. She thought she’d stopped crying over stupid Danny Castellano, but apparently not. She laid there sobbing, still seeing the scene from her dream. That’s what she wanted. She wanted that level of love that she saw between them. It didn’t have to be with Danny. Right now though, she couldn’t imagine it with anyone else.

Why did she have to see that? The other dreams she’d had were almost comforting. She couldn’t remember them all that clearly anymore, but she remembered the feeling they gave her. A feeling of hope. This dream just left her in despair.

~~

She sulked into work the next day. She wore her oversized sun glasses to cover her puffy face. She hadn’t really been able to get back to sleep. She just tossed and turned. And cried. She didn’t look her best and she hoped people would take her appearance as evidence that she didn’t want to be bothered. She practically sprinted past Phlebotomy so she wouldn’t have to see Morgan.

She nearly collided with Danny in her haste to get to her office. She jumped in shock. He grabbed her shoulders and looked at her like he was concerned. “Are you okay?”

She could feel all her emotions from the night before returning. She couldn’t do this right now. She nodded quickly and ran to her office, closing the door swiftly behind her. She exited her office as seldom as possible. Luckily she wasn’t that busy. But on the other hand, she didn’t really have anything to distract her.

By the afternoon, she couldn’t take it anymore. She had to have an answer for all the questions in her head. She stood up from her desk and opened the door slowly. She surveyed the reception area. It was basically only Betsy. Perfect. That was just who she wanted to see anyway.

After she summoned Betsy, she sat down behind her desk and attempted to calm herself. She had the potential to snap at Betsy, but she didn’t think that was the way to go. Betsy sat down in one of Mindy’s chairs, completely unaware of what was happening.

“What’s up Dr. L?”

“What’s up? What’s _up_? Let me tell you what is up, Betsy,” Mindy answered, getting progressively louder as she stood up from her desk. She noted Betsy’s frightened look and decided she should dial it back. “Do you remember last year when Dr. Castellano attempted to be my gynecologist?”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember what happened after that? The dreams that I had that I told you about?”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember what you told me about those dreams?”

“Yes.”

“Well enough of yes/no answers Betsy. I want the truth. Tell me everything about why I’m having these dreams.”

“I can’t.”

“You have to,” Mindy insisted.

“I’m not allowed,” Betsy pleaded.

“By who? I’m your boss! And I am commanding you to tell me!”

Betsy ducked her head. Mindy sat back down and sighed. Finally Betsy looked up at her. She had a very conflicted look on her face. She stood up and started pacing. “Okay, but you can’t ever tell anyone this.” Mindy got excited. She nodded quickly.

“The women in my family have these powers. We can see into the future,” Betsy began explaining.

“Like a fortune teller?”

“Not quite.”

“Ooh, like Professor Trelawney in Harry Potter?”

“Closer, but still no,” Betsy paused, trying to find her words. “So we can see into the future. We can’t see into our own personal futures, but we can see into the general future and into other people’s futures. We can help people. And sometimes, if we’re of a certain age and are advanced enough, we can show other people their futures.”

Mindy nodded, completely engrossed in what Betsy was saying.

“One of my aunts moonlights as a fortune teller. She’s completely accurate though because she’s actually seeing into the person’s future.”

“Whoa.”

“Yeah. I don’t prefer to be that flashy. Sometimes, I just see a person in need and I place myself in their life so I can help them.”

Mindy interrupted. “I’m sorry, but how do you help people with this…um, skill?”

“You’d be surprised to see how much it helps people to have a glimpse at their future. The way I do it, they never know it’s the future. They see it as dreams. They work hard to achieve what they could in the dream. And it helps them move their life forward. You see?”

“I guess. And you decided to do this to me?”

“Well not at first. That’s not why I started working here. I was just really poor. But that day of your appointment with Dr. C, you just seemed so down afterward. And Morgan mentioned something about someone kicking your emotional heart ass or something like that. So I wanted to show you that it would get better. But when you cornered me about it, I couldn’t tell you, so I was just cryptic.”

Mindy nodded, trying to take in all the information. “So how did you pick when you showed me new dreams?”

“I just wanted to make you your normal happy self. So every time you seemed especially down and hopeless, I would show you a new part. Like after your Christmas party. Or when you broke up with Casey.”

“Or when I broke up with Danny…” Mindy whispered to herself.

“I didn’t know for sure if that had happened yet,” Betsy said quietly, reaching out to pat Mindy’s hand.

“Wait, you _knew_?” Mindy nearly yelled, pulling her hand back from Betsy.

“Of course I knew. I’ve seen your future…” Betsy explained. “That’s why I sent the dream. To show you that it will get better.”

“I don’t buy it, Betsy.”

“You were buying it up until I said I knew you were dating Dr. C…” Betsy replied skeptically.

“If you knew I’m going to supposedly end up with Danny, then why did you declare your love for him at the party?” Mindy asked, walking closer to Betsy. “Your story doesn’t add up.”

“I was looking into your future and I saw how great you are together. And as you became friends in the present, he became a nicer person. Sorry for being human. I obviously knew nothing would ever happen.”

Mindy sat back at her desk. “It’s not possible. Those things I saw, they aren’t going to happen. Danny would have to want to be with me for those things to happen.”

“Maybe he’s struggling just as much as you,” Betsy offered.

Mindy scoffed.

“Maybe he had the same dream last night…”

“What?”

“Nothing. I’ve already said too much,” Betsy said suddenly, standing up ready to leave.

“Wait, Betsy!”

“Look, live your life however you want to. But everything that is supposed to happen will eventually happen.”

Mindy stood there silently. She held eye contact with Betsy, trying to figure out what exactly she meant by her statement. Betsy nodded her head quickly and left her office.

Mindy was no longer focused on her dream the rest of the day. Instead the same phrase kept rolling around in her mind. She wondered how it applied to her, or to her and Danny.

As she was leaving the office later, she and Danny were the only people left. They both left their respective offices at the same time, making eye contact across the room. They both awkwardly trudged for the elevator. They’d barely spoken since he’d left her. She’d heard things. She was sure he had too. There was so much to say and at the same time, nothing to say. They were completely silent as they waited for the elevator. They were completely silent for most of the ride down to the lobby.

Right before they reached the lobby, Danny turned to her. “Mindy,” he started, the pain in his voice audible. Mindy shook her head quickly. She didn’t think she had the strength for that now. They finished their ride in silence. Danny looked at her quickly before getting off the elevator and walking out the door. Mindy stood back and watched him leave. That’s all she felt like she did anymore was watch him leave.

Then it hit her again. “But everything that is supposed to happen will eventually happen.” Did that mean there was hope?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! I hope you're enjoying it! As always, I really appreciate feedback!  
> I think there's going to be one more chapter! Hopefully I can get it written soon! Life is getting crazy again!


	4. This Is Your Path

“Because I have plans.”

“To do what?”

“To not be the stupidest person in the world.”

She tried her best to distract herself all day. She couldn’t face Danny. She couldn’t face the rest of the office who’d heard everything and were undoubtedly gossiping about it right at that moment. So she threw herself into work. She wasn’t sure she’d ever gotten that much paperwork completed in one day. She kept her head down every time she left her office and avoided everyone’s stares, especially the particularly pained ones coming from Danny.

She heard a knock on her office door. “What?” She yelled. She didn’t exactly want to encourage people to bother her. Her day was not really going as planned.

Betsy peeked her head inside the door. “Dr. L, do you have a minute?”

“Depends on what you want, Betsy. If this has anything to do with Danny, then no, I’m afraid I don’t have a minute.”

Betsy squeezed herself around the door and shut it quickly behind her. She pranced over to Mindy’s desk and sat down in front of her. Mindy looked up questioningly.

“You have to meet him,” Betsy urged.

“I thought I said very clearly that I didn’t have time for this,” Mindy replied.

“I know. But Dr. L, you have to.”

“Why, Betsy? Why is it _that_ big a deal that I go?”

Betsy looked at her imploringly. “Because it’s your future.”

Mindy’s face softened. For a second she looked thoughtful. All too quickly, the anger returned to her face. “Betsy, if I recall, the last time we talked about this, you told me to live my life how I wanted to. I think I’m gonna do that.”

“But, Dr. L…”

“Besides, maybe futures change.”

“They don’t.”

“Are you 100% sure on that, Bets?” Silence. “Huh?” Mindy asked, cupping her ear with her hand. “What I thought. My future changed, Betsy. And that’s good. Because really, all Danny does is ruin my life. Now if you’ll excuse me, Betsy, I have some more work to do. Okay?”

Betsy nodded glumly. She trudged slowly out of Mindy’s office. Before she shut the door behind her, she glanced back at Mindy. She wondered how many more dreams she’d have to send her before Mindy would finally take the hint. Danny was still her future and Betsy was bound and determined to make it happen.

She walked next door to Peter’s office and started conspiring with him to get Mindy to meet Danny. Before too much longer, they were all in on it. It was obvious to everyone how much in love those two were. And they all knew how miserable everyone would be if Mindy stood up Danny. They waited for the opportune moment to waltz in and convince Mindy to go.

Mindy ran back from Danny’s office back to hers. Once she had her coat and her purse she ran from the office. “Bye, guys!” She yelled as she took off past them all. Betsy smiled happily to herself. Maybe just maybe, she’d finally put Mindy’s future on track.

~~

Mindy walked hand in hand with Danny happily as they entered the office the next day. They walked to reception as always. But everything was different. Everything that had transpired last night made Mindy sure that this time would be different. Probably not perfect, but better. For starters, everyone knew now. And that was a relief to Mindy.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my new favorite couple,” Peter cheered as he noticed Mindy and Danny. Mindy smiled happily and leaned her head on Danny’s shoulder. Danny laid a quick kiss in her hair. “Honestly, though, what are you guys doing here?” Peter asked.

“What do you mean? We work here,” Danny answered.

“Yeah, I get that. But we didn’t really expect to see you guys today. In fact, now we all owe Tamra fifty dollars.”

“What?” Mindy exclaimed.

Morgan walked in and noticed the happy pair. “What the hell are you guys doing here? Why aren’t you taking some sex-cation? Damn it.”

“That would be because Mindy and I are professionals, Morgan.”

“Yeah! Well, that, and Danny’s ribs hurt too much from getting hit by a cab to do much of anything right now,” Mindy added. Danny nodded solemnly.    

“So go take the day off. Quickly before anyone sees you,” Morgan urged.

Danny shook his head. “No.”

Tamra walked out of phlebotomy and saw them. She cheered loudly. “Aw yeah! It’s pay day!” She pointed at Peter. “I’d like fifty dollars from you.” She pointed at Morgan, “I’d like fifty dollars from you. Where’s Dr. Reed. I need fifty dollars from him! Aw yeah!”

“Wait, Jeremy even expected us to flake on work?” Danny asked exasperatedly.

Peter nodded. “Basically. We all kinda did.”

“Believe me, if Danny was not injured, I would have made my case,” Mindy replied.  Danny shook his head humoredly.

“Hey, Dr. P, do you think you could spot me fifty dollars. I promise I’m good for it,” Morgan begged.

Peter shook his head. “Ask one of them,” he said, pointing at Danny and Mindy, “They’re why we’re losing money.”

Mindy laughed loudly. “Yes, you have me to thank!” She looked around the office and a thought occurred to her. “And I guess I have Betsy to thank.”

Peter and Morgan looked at her confusedly. “Betsy?” They asked in unison.

“Oh it’s a long story.”

“Sure, but who’s Betsy?” Morgan asked.

Mindy did a double take. “What?”

“Yeah, who’s Betsy?” Danny echoed.

She looked at all the three men who stared at her with equal confusion. How did they not remember Betsy? “No one, I guess.” She shrugged and walked off towards her office. It was so confusing. Did Betsy disappear without a trace? And why was no one talking about her? Why were they all acting like she’d never existed? Weird.

She sat down at her desk and noticed a note waiting for her. On the top it read “Dr. L.” She opened it up, her curiosity piqued.

_My Dearest Dr. Lahiri,_

_I’m so happy to see that you are on your path. It makes me so happy to know that you and Dr. Castellano will be happy together. You’re on track for the wonderful future you saw. I hope you know how lucky you are. Not everyone gets what they’ve always wanted. Believe me, I’ve seen it._

_Just so you know, since you no longer need my help, I’ve moved on to find someone new to guide. Just to protect my secret life, I’ve erased myself from everyone else’s minds. (I may have some other powers I didn’t indicate to you. Don’t ask.) Anyway, I wanted you to know how happy I am for you, so I left your memory untouched. I’m sure with time I’ll fade from your memories as well._

_Please live your life to the fullest. You have such wonderful people in your life. Never stop reaching for the things you want. Sometimes, even when they seem crazy or out of reach, they really are attainable._

_I hope you continue to follow your “dreams.” It’s truly been a pleasure working with you these past few years. I will miss you greatly, though I know your life will only continue to improve and grow in ways I wish I could witness._

_Love always,_

_Betsy Putch_

~~

Though she was happy that her friends were there for her for such a big occasion, she was incredibly relieved when they left. They’d all said their goodbyes to her and Danny and their new little one. They filed out of the room one by one, with Morgan obviously being the most reluctant to leave. Jeremy had managed to convince him that the parents needed some alone time with their child.

Mindy was uncontrollably happy. Sure, she was exhausted. Labor was hell, even if it gave her the most precious gift she’d ever gotten. She couldn’t get over the looks Danny was giving to their son and to her. He truly mirrored her feelings. He leaned forward slowly and kissed her forehead. She smiled brightly at him and looked back down at their child.

Danny laid his hand under Leo’s head and leaned forward and kissed his head too. “I can’t believe he’s here,” he said in an awed, hushed tone.

Mindy clutched the baby ever so tightly to her. “I know what you mean.”

She shared a knowing look with Danny, thinking back and remembering something.

“It’s like a dream come true.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! I tried to poke a little fun at Betsy's sudden disappearance from the show! I hope you enjoyed reading this!  
> I have something new that I'm planning on posting soon. I hope you'll give it a read as well!  
> Thanks for the comments and the kudos! They mean a lot! :) 
> 
> You can always find me here: http://allmylovesatonce.tumblr.com/


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